


Just a Little Crush

by Fangirlinit



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 11:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5926948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlinit/pseuds/Fangirlinit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe it does take a scientist to understand what’s going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Little Crush

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t listen to the Jennifer Paige song while writing this. Nope. I did not.

Alex has noticed these smoldering looks lately. The kind of looks that say, “I know I’m dangerous but don’t you think I’m sexy?” As if Alex would fall for something so prosaic. She wouldn’t touch pride like that with a ten-foot pole, but here she is mooning over Sexy Eyes. Not that she’s named them or anything.

The smoldering doesn't bother her as much as her reaction to it does. Whenever she – Astra – walks into a room a subtle breeze blows in. She is an eager northeasterly wind with a caressing touch. And when that wind whistles through her hair…

Hold the phone. Rewind.

Astra is a curt, icy gust that came in from outer freaking space! For god’s sake, she is the e-n-e-m-y, the irredeemable villain, the scourge of planet Earth and any other planet that she-devil sets foot on. She doesn't fly in like a breeze anymore than she does burst in shooting laser beams from her eyes.

She is no spring flower. If she resembles any specious of flora it’s _Atropa belladonna_ : poison masquerading as beauty.

She is a force to be reckoned with. A murderess not even her sister can put down.

But she does have nice hair. And good teeth. And those smoldering eyes… Even if they don't focus in Alex’s general direction they are to die for.

To die for.

Alex slaps her forehead in dismay. The sound of self-castigation echoes in the training room.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks slowly. She turns her head to the side, eying Alex warily.

“Yes, I’m okay. I’m more than okay, why?”

“You’ve been acting…”

“Don’t say strange. It sounds ironic coming from you.”

A dorky smile breaks out onto Kara’s face. It has little effect on Alex, so she lessens it to a smirk. “I was going to say preoccupied. It’s not like you to let your mind wander, especially during sparing sessions. I won five of the last seven rounds and you get up slower each time.”

“That could just be the result of training. You’re getting better… although you still need practice on your footwork.”

“ _Alex_.”

“Come on.” Alex puts on foot back to even her weight and raises her fists. “Let’s go.”

Before Kara can return to her fighting stance a voice hails from the comms.

_“Kara, do you have a moment?”_

Hackles up once again, Alex drops her fists to her hips. She fights the whine out of her voice. “ _Now_ , Hank?”

Kara raises a brow.

Alex should know better to think she could fool him. There are just some things he can anticipate before either one of the Danver sisters.

Hank’s voice comes smooth and measured. _“I wouldn’t interrupt her training unless it was important.”_

Kara cuts in before Alex. “What is this about, Hank?”

_“She wants to speak to you.”_

“Again? What is she trying to prove?”

_“You’re the only one she’ll talk to. It might seem useless but it’s better than the methods someone like General Lane subscribes to.”_

“Fine,” Kara sighs, shoulders dropping in defeat. “But I don’t know what more will come of it. I beat her in combat and put her in a cage and she still acts like it never happened.”

“Or maybe she has an ulterior motive,” Alex supplies. The silence prompts her to continue. “Nothing comes out of these conversations and yet she still calls and you still answer.” What is obvious to Alex remains illusive to the other two. She rolls her eyes with a huff. “She does this on purpose: walking down memory lane, preying on your relationship with your mother, planting lies. More importantly, she’s drawing you away from your training. It’s the perfect tactic.”

“Perfect?” Kara echoes. “I think you give her too much credit, Alex. I can take care of myself and so can the DEO. I may be relatively new around here, but they seem to know who they’re dealing with.”

_“Kara’s right. Every corner of this compound is guarded by security feed and Kryptonite emitters. No unauthorized persons leave the premises unless I know about it.”_

Alex knows she’s being watched, alright, and speaks to the pinhole camera above them to prove her nerve. “That’s comforting, sir, but not at all what I was getting to.”

_“We can discuss this later. Right now, Kara has somewhere to be.”_

Kara takes that as her cue. She casts her sister a sympathetic look. She’s well aware that Alex has the brains as well as the brawn to stand up for herself, but when it comes to their boss there was a line and Alex just got a verbal reprimand about crossing it.

“Duty calls,” Kara mumbles with a shrug. She’s inching her way out of the chamber, wincing as she does so. There really is no subtle way.

A few feet out and it doesn’t take long. She has only to hear the brisk sound of boot heels to know Alex is joining her. “You sure about this?” she asks, not bothering to look over her shoulder.

“Why? She can’t do me – _us_ – harm.”

“No harm if we pay attention.”

There’s a touch of high and mighty to that comment. And it doesn’t escape Alex. She cocks her head with the severity only a big sister grasps. “Is that some roundabout way of insulting me?”

“Nope,” Kara smiles, rising to the balls of her feet as she walks through the last checkpoint. “Just sisterly advice.”

Alex grimaces with something akin to embarrassment. It’s sound advice. Nothing good will come of living in the clouds. Especially at work. That thought leads to something horrific: When has Kara turned into the big sister here? She’s all grown up and Alex seems to be missing it – probably due to her flirting with disaster.

The three-foot thick blast door slides open and there inside the transparent prison sits disaster.

Disaster has pretty hair.

Alex groans internally.

“Aunt Astra,” Kara greets. She folds her arms and sets her feet shoulder-width apart. Nothing about the stance is warm, but anyone who truly knows her can detect the battle waging in her heart – a battle between friend and foe, family and enemy.

Astra has perked to her new visitor. It shows in her eyes, equally tormenting as her niece’s. “Little one…”

“I told you not to call me that. I’ve done some growing up since we last saw each other on Krypton. Don’t act like those years mean nothing, because I’m pretty sure your time in prison was well spent.”

“Unjustly imprisoned thanks to your mother.”

“Not this again,” Kara growls with a roll of her eyes.

In the midst of yet another conversation gone nowhere, Alex gets lost in her thoughts. Thoughts… of smoldering and smoky eyes and an eternal air of confidence. Expertise in body language lent Alex the small details: how she held her head when walking, where her eyes fixed when she spoke, and the subtle reactions when Kara called her “aunt.”

Alex had a feeling from the time she spent analyzing Astra’s every move. While she has committed unforgiveable atrocities, Astra possesses certain qualities that cannot be ignored. She is willful, yes, but intelligent and effective in her strategy. She could easily use her power for good. If only the love of one’s home planet – the mistakes learned – could combine with that of others who feel the same as her. Her methods could be tweaked without losing the essence of her main goal. If only she and the DEO could put their differences aside and join forces with her niece. They would be a force to be reckoned with: Kara and Astra, blood-bonded Kryptonian bad asses.

Alex tries to reconcile a strategy. There has to be a way – preferably a nonviolent one – to create an outlet for such anger, to bring something hopeful out of the darkness. But even if she came up with anything resembling a plan, Astra wouldn’t hear of it. She wouldn’t bat an eye. And why?

Because of the smoldering looks that fail to meet their mark.

Alex’s mind races with all the things Astra has said and done, her appearance, her strength, the touch of her finger on her cheek… But none of it explains her disregard. Nothing that explains why Alex doesn’t receive anything more than a one or two word remark. Astra barely looks at her, barely acknowledges her existence. Alex has never desired the limelight. At college she was perfectly fine with her nose down the microscope and lost in her own restless head. At work she thrives on cooperation and chain of command. Soldiers and scientists may not make the best of allies, but with egos held in check the mission held promise.

She can’t worry about something as petty as this… she can’t even say it. It has to be a professional curiosity. If she is honest with herself it’s turning into a professional obsession, really. But a crush? Alex can’t even remember her last crush. It had to have been in high school. Adults don’t have crushes. They flirt a little, share a drink and redundant chat, then sleep together, exchange numbers, and forget to call in between research papers.

At least, that had been Alex’s experience.

Why doesn’t she notice? Because she’s an icy bitch, that’s why. But if that’s true and Astra doesn’t see her, why does Alex persist?

She wants to scream, “Why don’t you see me?! Why am I so irrelevant to you?!” She just wants to understand.

The chamber has fallen silent. Kara and Astra are staring at each other as if to seal in the urgency of their claims, however opposing.

It’s Kara’s scraping footsteps that break through. Alex shakes her head a little. A bit fatigued by the mask she’s been wearing today, she looks behind her to see Kara do a little wave. She seems all too calm about leaving them alone. Together.

The cement door closes, sealing their fates.

Alex turns hands on her hips and glares. The scream echoes within her but her throat clamps down on it.

Why does everyone see me but you?

“Oh, I see you.”

Something large and thumping rises in Alex and gets lodged in her throat. It feels a lot like her heart. She inhales sharply, eyes watering.

If only…

A flush colors her skin. Kryptonians cannot read minds, but Astra has clearly been paying attention, which means Alex has not. Damn it, how could she be so transparent?

She clenches her jaw and returns to glaring. “What’s it to you?”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t? You are a competent fighter, I can attest to it. Your confidence does not cloud your judgment. And behind those eyes a brilliant mind is working at the speed of… well, not a Kryptonian but –“

“How thoughtful,” Alex snaps, irritated and a little hurt.

Astra narrows her eyes. “Interesting choice of words. What has been going on in that head, I wonder?” She throws a hand in the air and follows it with her eyes, waxing bored. “Thoughts, feelings…” As her gaze reached its peak, they came racing back to meet Alex.“… Desires?”

“You have no idea who I am or what I’m thinking.”

“But isn’t this the perfect time to? I’m not going anywhere as my niece so lovingly puts.” Astra’s face softens. She stares and stares, enforcing nothing but the inclination to share. “Tell me, Agent Danvers. Are you off the clock?”

“When it comes to my sister’s homicidal aunt I never am.”

The growl hisses from Alex in a venomous manner, and it occurs to her that she may have crossed a line. While she doesn’t exactly worry about Astra’s feelings or offending her, it does reflect badly on her as a person. She isn’t the type to get easily angered, not without a damn good reason, a _professional_ reason. It’s just not like her to let a pathetically arrogant woman get under her skin or dwell in her fantasies.

Alex closes her eyes, counts to ten, and breathes deeply. That one breath seems to take up all the oxygen in the room because she starts to feel the beginnings of vertigo. “No, I’m not off the clock.”

Astra, who sees this all occur in the blink of an eye, is affected. Not in a way she wasn’t taught to disguise. This Kryptonian isn’t perfect, but she doesn’t allow herself to be captured for nothing.

She leans back and laces her hands atop her knee. The smirk says she knows more about the next two hours than she is letting on. “We’ll see about that.”

Alex swallows. She’s not going to swoon. The concrete below her feet would crack her head upon impact and she’d bleed out in front of Astra. Alex teeters, on the brink of disaster, and nearly buckles when it happens.

Astra’s eye narrows in what might – just _might_ – pass for a wink.

Oh hell.


End file.
